<p>I am a senior in Kansas. I am trying to decide between University of Kansas, University of Michigan, and Washington University in St. Louis. I plan on attending med school, so I would like to save as much money as possible in undergraduate school. I have a strong academic record (34 act and national merit semi-finalist) and I expect that to bring me some scholarships at Kansas. However, Washington and Michigan are more selective schools and I am not sure about my chances of financial aid there. </p>
<p>I was wondering if anyone had any insight into the advantages and disadvantages of going to Wash U or Michigan over KU. Would it help me get into med school? Would my overall college experience be better at Wash, Michigan, or KU? </p>
<p>Washington Univ in St Louis is a private school so the tuition is the same ($32,800) whether you are in state or out of state.</p>
<p>U Michigan is a bargain for in staters who can get in (about $10,000). Their out of state tuition is among the most expensive public univeristies in the nation (about $30,000).</p>
<p>Have you considered some of the state univerisities that offer good scholarships? Ohio State comes to mind. Or how about smaller research univerisities that are known for good merit money, such as Case Western or University of Rochester?</p>
<p>There are many other options too - although your in state school will be the best bargain.</p>
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<p>People say "bump" because they want their thread to move up in the list of posts. Sort of reactivates it.</p>
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I plan on attending med school, so I would like to save as much money as possible in undergraduate school.
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<p>I have a feeling you know what you want and want some confirmation. </p>
<p>If money is an issue and from the stand point of monetary return, you are likely better off to go with KU. I think someone cited a study that showed people that went to Penn and people who got accepted to Penn but chose lesser schools ended up earning about the same amount of money. When you are in med school, no one really cares where you went for undergrad. Some may say WashU/Mich have better med school placement but I think you get that benefit only if you get similar GPA. That is, 3.6/3.7 GPA at Wash U vs 3.7 GPA at KU. It seems to me, however, GPA matters more than school's reputation for med school admission. My guess is a 3.8 at KU would be better than 3.5 at WashU. There's a danger that going to competitive schools <em>can</em> hurt as your GPA if your grades are curved. Of course, if you will be top of the class anywhere, you don't need to worry about it.</p>
<p>I definitely don't think it is worth incurring large debt just to attend a "better" school, especially if you intend to go to medical school. But there are a few things t keep in mind:</p>
<p>1) Medical schools generally give preference to their institutions' undergrads. Roughly a quarter to a third of the University of Michigan medical students completed their undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan and I am sure it is the same at Wash U. Let us not forget that Michigan and WUSTL both have top 10 medical schools. </p>
<p>2) Those two universities sometimes happen to give good merit scholarships to students with 33+ ACT scores.</p>
<p>3) Given the size and quality of their Biology and Medical school programs as well as their university-owned and operated hospitals, Michigan and WUSTL both offer amazing research and internship opportunities to their undergrads.</p>
<p>I agree with Sam Lee that a 3.8 GPA from KU will probably get a medical school applicant further than a 3.5 GPA from Michigan or WUSTL (assuming MCAT scores, research experience etc... are equal). However, I'd say that a 3.8 Medical school applicant from Michigan and WUSTL will probably have a better shot at medical school than a 3.8 student from KU.</p>
<p>Something else to keep in mind is that a significant portion of students who start college as pre-meds end up changing their minds, so it is better to go to the best possible undergraduate institution because one may decide to end their schooling after earning their undergraduate degree.</p>
<p>My advice would be to at least apply to Michigan and WUSTL and see what sort of financial packages he gets. Then the OP can make a decision that makes financial sense.</p>
<p>No one has mentioned peer group. If you were mostly bored in high school and feel like you learned faster than most, it's a reason to choose a more selective college.</p>
<p>You have decent chance for merit aid at both Michigan and WuSTL. I would also apply to some other top 30 schools that give merit aid.</p>
<p>It is too soon to make a decision as you don't have the information for comparison. Just wait until you are admitted and know the costs, so you could accurately compare.</p>
<p>If the cost differential is not significant (e.g. <10K a year) go to a better school with stronger students</p>
<p>OP is probably trying to find the best rep places that are vaguely drivable. My d went through the same process. Wash U might be 4 hrs away, U mIch 13 hrs. I recall reading that most people attend school within 250 miles of their home. For midwest students in certain states there may be relatively few "match"-type choices within this proximity.</p>
<p>The other choices my daughter found worth investigating, in the "vaguely drivable" mode, were: U Illinois-Urbana,U Chicago, Northwestern, Carleton, Macalester, Grinnell, Oberlin.</p>
<p>"Michigan or Washington St. Louis worth the cost for out of state?"</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>By the time you get to med. school, it is going to run you roughly $220k, give or take. I can think of virtually no instance where (without serious financial aid) UMich or WUSTL would be worth the cost differential. In addition, if you are a top student at Kansas, you might have better opportunities - better mentoring, better research opportunities, better recommendations, higher GPA. You might simply get a better education, and have better med school possibilites, and might actually be able to pay for it.</p>
<p>I don't think this is a gray area. (and the same would be true for Northwestern, Chicago, Vanderbilt, and any OOS state school).</p>
<p>^ Chicago would be worth it if you can get into the med school after your junior year and NU is worth it if you get into HPME or even WUSTL's med program. </p>
<p>Also, WUSTL and Mich give scholarships, and if you can win some pretty generous scholarships to the point where it costs a bit more than Kansas, it may be worth going to improve medschool placement. However, if you want to stay instate for medschool, and KU is a school that likes to take undergrads and keep them for medschool, it is worth the money you save to stay instate. The one thing you have to consider is research, volunteer, and intern oppertunities each college offers. If KU doenst have the best oppertunities (I have no idea about KU), it may hurt in medschool admissions (I think WUSTL and MIch are pretty good at internship/research oppertunities and have med schools on campus). In the end if you do not become a doctor and instead try to go into business (like many premed majors do) then Mich and WUSTL will give you the better (much better especially Mich bschool) job oppertunities.</p>
<p>Mini, the OP has a 34 ACT composite. He could get a $100,000-$160,000 (over 4 years) scholarship. I agree that paying $40,000-$50,000 for Michigan or Wash U when KU would be practically free is not worth it, especially if the OP knows without a doubt that he is going to medical school. But paying say $10,000/year to attend Michigan or Wash. U is worth it, especially if the OP isn't sure whether or not he will end up in medical school.</p>